Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Previous acute myocardial infarction (AMI) models are prepared via opening chest and ligating coronary artery, which result in great trauma and death. 
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate minipig models of ischemic heart failure caused by AMI by perfusing microsphere suspension into the left anterior descending branch .
METHODS: After coronary angiography, 4F judkins angiographic catheter was inserted into the left anterior descending branch and 3 mL microsphere suspension was injected repeatedly at 10 minutes interval until TIMI myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG) < 2 and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure maintaining from 15 to 18 mm Hg steadily. Electrocardiography, hemodynamic parameters, ultrasonic cardiogram, cardiac troponin I and CK-MB were measured. Myocardial infarct area was determined by pathologic examination. At 1, 7, 14, and 30 days after model preparation, cardiac ultrasound inspection was performed. At 30 days, hemodynamic parameters and pathological examination were used to evaluate the stability and repeatability of models.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 14 minipigs survived at 30 days after model preparation, which were consistent with AMI criteria. There were 13 minipigs consistent with the models criteria with notably increased pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P < 0.01) and decreased cardiac output and left ventricular ejection fraction (P < 0.01). The success rate was 76.47%. The pathological examination demonstrated that the infarct size accounted for (33.85±4.43)% of the left ventricle. The model prepared by this method is more close to pathophysiological characteristics of ischemic heart failure caused by AMI.